Woman in yellow and green

2023 | Oil on panel | 60 x 30

This piece was nominated for the Dutch Portrait Prize 2023.

The woman in this painting is my mother. She appears frequently in my paintings. However, it's not a portrait in the conventional sense of the word. I didn't strive to capture my mother's character and likeness as accurately as possible. Rather, she, or something in her gaze or posture that inspires me, is the starting point of my exploration. As I progress, I allow myself to be guided by what unfolds on the canvas until something strikes me, and I sense that it's right. Humanity must be present. I try to dictate as little as possible which specific emotion emanates from it, leaving that determination ultimately to the viewer.

I'm deeply fascinated by the combination of flatness with a more realistic painting style. In this piece, I aimed to achieve a clear composition to further emphasize the expression of the face and hands. Here, I employed both the alla prima technique and the methods of the old masters. The colors in the underpainting play a crucial role, with certain areas glazed over. Conversely, the face was predominantly laid down in one stroke. For color choices, I often draw inspiration from the Flemish Primitives and religious icons.

At this exhibition, there's another piece where my mother posed as the model. In "Three Women at the Table," she posed alongside two of my sisters, whom I've also painted previously. During the Dutch Portrait Prize exhibition in 2019, a portrait of my three sisters was displayed, earning an honorable mention at the time.